Month: July 2017

Gov. Kay Ivey spoke glowingly about Alabama’s future today and said she would be proud to lead the state in the years ahead but did not say she was running for a full term next year.

Ivey gave a short prepared speech and then took questions from reporters at the Capitol to mark her first 100 days in office, which ended Wednesday.

The governor mentioned the state’s bicentennial, which is in 2019, and said the state would build on a history she said was marked by innovation and progress.

"And as governor, I pledge to you I will lead the charge in the years ahead to be faithful to our past with innovation and progress and proudly embrace the future," Ivey said, speaking to a room full of cabinet members and staff members who occasionally interrupted her with applause.

Ivey became governor on April 10 when Robert Bentley resigned. Ivey, a Republican, was in her second term as lieutenant governor.

Ivey’s term ends in January 2019. Her first question from reporters today was whether she would seek a full term next year.

"Having finished just 100 days of governing, I’ve still got governing that’s got to be done for the people of Alabama," Ivey said. "And at the appropriate time I will address that other situation and that other opportunity. I do enjoy being governor."

The primaries are June 5.

This story will be updated.

DEMOPOLIS, AL – JUNE 14: The marble statue of a Rebel soldier was unceremoniously toppled from the granite pedestal where he had presided since 1910, on Wednesday, June 14, 2017, in Demopolis, AL. About 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, 2016, an on-duty patrol car with the Demopolis, Ala., Police Department proceeded north on North Main Avenue to the intersection of West Capitol Street, where it crashed into the city’s Confederate memorial. The impact of the Dodge Charger broke the statue off at the shins. Undamaged was the inscription on the base: "Our Confederate Dead." (photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)